It’s something new and different for West and the Rockford School District. Most students take health as a one-semester class in sixth and 10th grades. This helps ensure that all students are educated on things like saying no to drugs, alcohol and smoking, bullying and peer pressure, how to have healthy relationships,and how fitness and nutrition affect our lives.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

CAPA teachers at West, led by science teacher Vicci Gartner are not only finding that they can incorporate health lessons into what they do every day, the lessons are enhanced by their connection to other subjects and vice-versa.

The value goes beyond increased educational connections.

The impetus for trying the new teaching method at West was inspired by CAPA students and their desire to maintain studies in theater, art, dance and music year-round.

Taking all of those electives takes time. Only so many classes can be taken within the seven-period school day. Taking health class out of the equation frees up time for the electives.

Tyler Fagan, the district’s dean of physical education, health, wellness and driver’s education, said Gartner’s approach is exciting and nonconventional.

“It’s a solution to a problem. We don’t want students to have to sacrifice something they enjoy for something they don’t see as beneficial. ... We know that the elective classes like music and art increase buy-in for students. They’re in school more. Their attendance is better. Their discipline is less. From our end, we just need to make sure the content is being covered.”

Healthy connections

Gartner won a $1,000 grant this year from McDonald’s Balanced, Active Lifestyles Program to help do that. She spent the money on equipment mostly, some dissection tools and organs. The big-ticket items were the video equipment and editing software.

CAPA sixth-graders will use the video equipment to combine their talents for performing with health lessons.

For example, Gartner occasionally lets her students dissect pig lungs and hearts to teach them about anatomy. With an integrated health approach, she uses the dissection lesson as an opportunity to talk about healthy lungs and healthy hearts, how they work and what kind of choices people make that affect their hearts and lungs.

Page 2 of 3 - In a recent class, students were able to connect an air pump to various sets of pig lungs and observe how healthy lungs filled with air.

Later this semester, students will write and perform the “respiratory rap” and “circulatory song.” In theater, they’ll write and perform a skit about saying no to drinking. In language arts, they’ll make public service announcements about the importance of exercise. In math, they’ll do a video about nutrients and calorie intake.

“When a student learns something in isolation, they don’t necessarily know that’s a skill that you need to transfer,” Gartner said. “When students are coached in a way to see the connections, it has a much longer-term impact and significance.”

Breyonna Jamerson, 12, enjoys learning about how organs work. Talking about healthy organs and unhealthy organs as she and classmates dissect them makes sense, she said.

“You get to feel where everything is. ... It’s very gooey, but I think it’s a better experience.”

Holistic learning

CAPA’s approach to teaching health is something that’s going to have an impact on the entire school, West Principal Maceo Rainey said. The students’ work will be used to promote healthy lifestyle choices throughout the building. West has 786 students; about 120 are in CAPA.

“It’s a requirement for all sixth-graders to take health, but we’re exploring new ideas on how to expand that,” Rainey said. “I think they’re getting more in terms of health education because its incorporated into other subjects. That kind of learning creates a more holistic experience for students, and that resonates with young people.”

“Students need to practice their skills to develop their talent. Teachers need to be able to monitor their students’ progress in the areas of arts. You can’t do that when you take half of the year off.”

Parents can be assured that all of the academic benchmarks required for health instruction in Illinois are being met, Rainey said. They’re just spread out among several classrooms.

“Health is a unique subject,” Fagan said. “It can easily fit into other areas.”

Fagan hopes to see the district change the way it does physical education and health across the board.

One idea is to change the one semester of health in sixth and 10th grades into a year-round class, with three days of physical education and two days of health each week.

Page 3 of 3 - “We’re excited about what they’re doing at West because there really are no opportunities for students to apply what they’re learning in health class because they’re in health class,” Fagan said. “These students are going to be exposed much more to application of what they learn.”